At times, your WD My Passport external hard drive might not show up on your computer. In case you are using a Windows computer, the drive will not get displayed in Disk Management or File Explorer. If the drive doesn’t show up, you can neither access nor use it. There are several reasons behind WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up issue, some of which are listed below:
- A faulty USB cable or port
- A corrupted file system
- Bad sectors on the drive
- An outdated driver for the WD My Passport drive
Now, to resolve WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Detected issue, we need to try some troubleshooting methods. A few of those methods are provided here:
Method 1: Try A Different Usb Cable/Port
- The problem might lie with your USB cable or port. So, the first step you need to take is to use a different USB cable to plug the drive into your computer. In case the drive shows up under Disk Management or File Explorer, then the fault is with your original USB cable.
- If the WD drive does not show up on your computer even after using a different USB cable, try some other USB port on your computer. In case the drive shows up, then the first USB port you were using is faulty.
- In case your WD My Passport external hard drive does not show up even after trying a different USB cable and port, try the next instruction.
- Attempt to use the external drive on another computer. If the drive is detected by this computer, then the issue is with the older one you were using.
- However, if the WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up even after following all the above steps, move on to the next method.
Method 2: Plug Your Drive Halfway-into-usb
This method is a pretty bizarre one. And, it can be used only as a temporary solution. However, many users have found this method to be beneficial, even though it might be “unreasonable” or “illogical.” So, execute this method by following these steps:
issue, some of which are listed below:
- Plug the USB cable (that is connected to the WD Passport external drive) halfway through any USB port on your computer.
- Now, wait for the drive to be displayed in File Explorer.
- Once you see the drive, push the USB cable completely into the port on your computer.
- The issue is now resolved. But still if the WD My Passport external hard drive not recognized, move on to the following method.
Method 3: Uninstall And Reinstall The Usb Controllers
In case the USB controllers of the WD My Passport drive are outdated, it might not show u on your computer. So, try the following steps to resolve the issue:
- On your Windows computer, right-click on the Start icon.
- From the displayed options, select Device Manager.
- In the Device Manager window that displays, expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers option.
- Right-click on the first USB controller of your WD drive. From the options, choose Uninstall or Uninstall device.
- Repeat the above procedure to uninstall all the USB controllers (one by one).
- Windows will now automatically reinstall the USB controllers of your WD Passport drive.
- Now, the drive should show up on your computer.
- You have now fixed the problem due to which your WD My Passport external hard drive not showing up on your computer.